Overview

Local-I-Dos.com helps couples from the moment a bride-to-be says, “Yes,” to the day the couple says, “I do.” The website, an online publication developed for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, Mass., marries a newspaper’s in-house experience in content, sales and production with new media opportunities to make the process easier for brides and vendors alike.

Local-I-Dos.com provides an updated, fresh take on what has been a mainstay of the newspaper print industry: The bridal niche publication. With its clean, easy-to-navigate design, it provides access to an incredible amount of general and market-specific content including articles, do-it-yourself projects, etiquette issues, featured wedding stories, and, direct from the newspaper, wedding and engagement announcements. Vendors — everything from hair salons to tuxedo shops — have the benefit of being able to post their own descriptions along with multiple pictures on their own profile page. The results advertisers see from the site speak for themselves.

Local-I-Dos.com was developed to specifically address the needs of couples planning weddings who might be disenfranchised by the somewhat limited reach of larger wedding sites and to help media companies tap into the lucrative bridal market with a reasonably priced, off-the-shelf online product. Easily integrated with a newspaper’s existing website, Local-I-Dos.com is a profitable online business model now available under a licensing agreement that can be customized with localized content. It delivers a targeted baseline audience by serving as the host site for a newspaper’s online wedding and engagement announcements. The site also nurtures a robust social networking community of couples planning their weddings through forums and message boards. With all of these features, Local-I-Dos.com connects vendors in your market to the brides and grooms most likely to use their services.

Why weddings?

According to industry statistics, $40 billion is spent every year on weddings and receptions in the United States — with the median total costs ranging from $22,000 to $27,000. With the average age of a first-time bride at 26 and a first-time groom at 28, today’s engaged couples tend to be upscale, well established in their careers and more than willing to spend on their special day. The average couple spends $3,800 on their honeymoon, $9,500 on their reception, $3,000 on an engagement ring, $1,100 on wedding rings, $2,500 on photography and video service, $1,200 on the rehearsal dinner, $1,500 on a bridal gown, $900 on bridesmaids dresses, $850 on flowers, $750-$2,500 on music, $500 on formal wear, $800 on stationery/invitations, $450 on transportation/limousines, and $250 on clergy services. At a time when newspapers are seeking ways to build new business partnerships, reinvigorate old ones and enhance sagging profit margins, bridal listings on Local-I-Dos.com are an excellent springboard to expand a paper’s conventional footprint by reaching out to a specialized customer base.

Business model

Local-I-dos.com targets its content mostly to the brides- and grooms-to-be who might otherwise seek the services of a professional wedding planner or a national wedding planning website. The website is positioned as a delivery system for information and advice that highlights vendors. The vendor profiles can be linked to the wedding listings of real couples who have used their services through the featured wedding page on the site.

About our product:

Premier audience:
Local-i-dos.com delivers an attractive, upscale audience in YOUR market: to-be-weds who are engaged, on average, 14 months before their wedding. By marrying topical bridal information with real-world content from your newspaper, affiliated print and online products, local-i-dos.com delivers a targeted baseline audience by serving as host site for your papers’ online wedding and engagement listings, showcasing both general and market-specific content from your area, and nurturing a robust social networking community.

Local-i-dos.com offers a broad range of general and localized bridal content and easy-to-use planning tools that attracts a steady flow of traffic to the site and keeps them there longer. Local-i-dos.com content includes:

Wedding & engagement listings:
Local-i-dos.com serves as host site for online social announcements. All social items published in your newspaper are likewise posted on local-i-dos.com. Additionally, couples may be selected to appear in an expanded featured wedding profile.

Featured Wedding:
Our featured wedding page ties in vendors with the wedding information page. Did you like the food or the grooms tuxedo? You can view the featured wedding page for all aspects of the wedding with pictures.

Vendor listings:
Local-i-dos.com delivers interactive vendor listings across 22 topical categories, allowing advertisers a clean, practical and attractive means of reaching out to potential customers. These listings are available at different price points, and may be packaged with fixed advertising appearing elsewhere on local-i-dos.com, or on one of your affiliated websites or print products.

Free classifieds:
Only local-i-dos.com allows users to connect with other affianced couples to arrange private sales of wedding-related items. There is no charge for this service.

Planning tools:
Our easy-to-use budget calculator helps users get a firm handle on their wedding costs, while our guest planner keeps track of all those friends and relatives. And for users with a creative flair, local-i-dos.com provides the tools for hosting their own personalized web page, all at no charge.